Wire rope.



H. LESUHEN.

WIRE ROPE. APPLICATION FILED APR.26, 1909.

Patented Nov. 15, 1910.

nuirnn STATES rrnr ribs.

HENRY LESCHEN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

Winn ROPE.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY LnsoHEN, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the city or" St. Louis and State of Mis-' souri, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire Rope, of which thefollowing is a specification.

- My invention relates to wire rope and has for its principal objects tominimize the friction of the wires against each other; to guard againstthe corrosion or rusting of the interior members of the rope; tominimize the tendency of the metal to crystallize;-to minimize abrasion;and to accomplish said objects without interfering with the easyinspection of those wires which stand the brunt of the wear.

The invention consists principally in providing a wire rope withcushions of fibrous material underneath the outermost wires or strands;it also consists in impregnating said cushion or. cushions with asuitable lubricant.

it also consists in the parts and in the arran ements and combinationsof parts hereina ter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification andwherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur, Figure 1is a sectional view of a cable embodying my invention, said cablecomprising elliptical strands arrangedabout a hempen core; Fig. 2 is across section of a wire rope whose middle portion is similar to theconstruction illustrated in Fig. 4 and is surrounded by a layer ofelliptical strands; Fig. 3 is a cross section of a rope whose individualstrands are formed on a round core; Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view ofa wire rope whose individual strands are formed on a core of triangularsection; Fig. 5 is a cross section of a wire rope whose individualstrands consist of a layer of Wire surrounding a central wire; Fig. 6 isa side view of a rope or strand embodying my invention, the outer layerof wires being removed from the right end portion of said view; Figs. 7,8, 9 and 10 are sectional views of individual composite strands.

In its simplest form, my rope comprises a core 1 and a single layer ofwires or strands 2 surrounding the same with a layer 3'ot fibrousmaterial intervening between the core and the layer of wires or strands.For instance, as illustrated in Fig. 10, the core is a single roundwire, around which is Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 26, 1909.

Patented Nov. 15, 1916}.

Serial No. 492,138.

wrapped a layer of fibrous material impregnated with plumbago, graphite,mica, asphalt, oil or other suitable lubricant; and surrounding thislayer of fibrous material is an outer layer of individual wires. Thisconstruction constitutes a complete rope and is capableof use as such.It has the obvious advantage of furnishing a lubricant between the coreand the outer layer of wires and thus minimizes friction between thecore and the wires of the surrounding layer. Likewise, the practical useof the rope tends to force the lubricant or fibrous material between theindividual wires of the outer layer and thereby minimize the frictionbetween such wires. Again, the layer of fibrous material constitutes acushion which affords a means of distributing and dissipating to agreater or less extent the stresses which'tend normally to crystallizethe wires of the outer layer when they flex or bend around sheaves,winding drums and the like; and at the same time, this cushion has atendency to minimize the abrasion or wear of those wires which come incontact with the sheave or winding drum. In actual practice, the

wires of the outer layer are submitted to the most severe stresses andwear, and are usually the first to give way. For this reason, it isimportant that these outer wires should always be subject to inspection;and it is noted as an important advantage of my present invention thatthe outer wires are always subject to inspection. i

The foregoing description is based upon. the simplest type-of rope, asillustrated in Fig. 10; the statements applicable thereto are equallyapplicable to ropes of different shapes and more highly organized. Forinstance, instead of the strands or members of the outer layer of therope being single wires, each one of said members may itself be acomposite strand. When composite strands are used, it is generallypreferable to arrange them around a central core 4 of hemp or othersuitable fibrous material impregnated with a suitable lubricant, asillustrated in Figs. 1,2, 3, 4 and 5. In the rope illustrated in Fig. 5,each composite strand A is of the same construction as that hereinbeforedescribed and particularly illustrated in Fig. 10. In the constructionillustrated in Fig. 3, each composite strand B has the constructionillustrated in Fig. 9: Said strand has a round wire core 1 surroundingwhich is a layer of round wires 5, which in turn is surrounded by alayer of fibrous material 3, and around this fibrous layer is theoutermost layer 2 of round wires. In the rope illustrated in Fig. 1,each composite strand C has as its core an elliptical or flattened wire1; and surrounding this wire is a layer of round wires 6 around which isa layer of fibrous material 3, and around this layer of fibrous materialis the outermost layer of round wires 2. In the rope illustrated in Fig.l, the core of each strand D is a trian ular wire 1 and this core issurrounded by two layers of round wires 7, 8 around which is wrapped alayer of textile fabric or fibrous material 3 around which is theoutermost layer of round wires 2: Fig. 8 illustrates one of thecomposite strands of the rope illustrated in Flg. 4. The ropeillustrated in Fig. 2 has a core 4 of hemp or other suitable fibrousmaterial surrounded by composite strands Dformed on triangular cores.Surrounding this layer of triangular strands is a cushioning wrapper orcovering 9 of fibrous material suitably lubricated, and surrounding thiscushioning wrapper is an outer layer of composite strands C ofelliptical form. The composite triangular strands D of the inner layerare similar to that illustrated in Fig. 8, except that only a singlelayer of wires inter-' .venes between the fibrous wrapper and thetriangular core. The elliptical composite strands C of the outer layerof the rope illustrated in Fig. 2 are similar to the composite strands Cof Fig. 1, except that two ayers of round wires intervene between thefibrous layer and the elliptical core. Fig. 7 illustrates one of thecomposite strands C or" the outer layer of the rope illustrated in Fig.2.

It is noted that in all of the constructions hereinbefore described, theoutermost wires are exposed to view and thus are subject to inspectionat all times. This is a mostimportant advantage, as in practice theoutermost wires are usually first to fail. It is also noted that thelayer of fibrous material underneath the outermost wires serves tocushion them. against shock when they contact with the drum or sheaveand thereby tends to minimize abrasions; and likewise said cushioninglayer serves to minimize the crystallizing tendency produced by flexingor bending of the wires around the sheave. The cushioning layer alsoserves to protect the inner layers from the atmosphere and therebyprevent rusting, and it furnishes a supply of lubricant to prevent thefriction of the wires upon each other.-

Obviously, the rope hereinbefore described admits of considerablemodification Without departin from my invention, and I do not wish to %erestricted to the articular constructions hereinbefore dGSCI'lbt-Id. Forinstance, the cushioning layer may be braided or knitted directly onthecore or inner portion of the rope; 'or it may be wrapped around thesame in the form of yarn or fabric. So, too, in some instances, it maybe desirable to make the cushioning layer of sheet rubber or otherwiseuse rubber as an in edient in the cushioning layer.

hat I claim is:

1. A wire rope having its outermost strands exposed to view and anannular layer of fibrous and lubricant material underlying saidoutermost strands.

' 2. A wire rope having its outermost wires uncovered and an annularlayer of fibrous and lubricant material underlying the same.

3. A wire rope comprising a plurality of uncovered strands eachconsisting of a plurality of wires, and an annular layer of fibrousmaterial underlying the outermost wires of each strand.

4. A wire rope comprising a plurality of" uncovered strands eachconsisting of a plurality of wires, and an annular layer of fibrous andlubricant material underlying the outermost wires of each strand.

5. A wire rope comprising a core of fibrous material and aplurality oflayers of strands surroundin said core, the strands of the outer layereing uncovered, and an annular layer of fibrous material underlying theoutermost layer of strands.

6. A wire rope comprising a plurality of layers of strands, the strandsof the outer layer being uncovered, and an annular layer of fibrousmaterial impregnated with lubricant material underlying the outermostlayer of strands.

'7. A wire rope comprising a core of fibrous material and a plurality ofstrands of wires surrounding the same, each strand comprising aplurality oflayers of wire with a layer of textile fabric wrapped aroundthe inner layer to form a cushion for the outermost layer.

8. A wire rope comprising a core of fibrous material and a plurality ofstrands of wires surroundin the same, each strand comprising a plura ityof layers of wire with a layer of textile fabric wrapped around theinner layer to form a cushion for the outermost layer, said textilefabric having a lubricant material therein.

9. A wire rope comprising a core of fibrous material, an inner layer ofstrands of wire surrounding said core, a wrapper of textile fabricsurrounding said inner layer, and an outer layer of strands surroundingsaid wrapper, each of the strands of sai inner layer comprising aplurality of layers of strands of wire, and a wrapper of textile fabricimmediately underlying said outer layer, each strand of said inner layercomi prising a plurality of layers of wire with a textile fabric Wrappedaround the inner layer to form a cushion for the outermost layer of saidstrand, the textile fabric coir raining lubricant material.

11. A Wire rope comprising a core, and an 3 outer layer of strands, anda mass of fibrous E material underlying said strands, each 1 strandcomprising an elliptical wile core, an outer layer of wires surroundingsaid core and exposed to View. and a layer of fibrous materialunderlying said outer wlres. i

12. A wire rope comprising a fibrous core,

a layer of strands surrounding said core, a layer of fibrous materialsurrounding said layer of strands, and an outer layer of strands exposedto View surrounding .said layer of fibrous material, each strand of saidouter layer comprising an elliptical core, an outer layer of wiresexposed to View, and a I layer of fibrous material underlying said outerwires. a

Signed at St. Louis, Missouri, this 24th day of April, 1909.

HENRY LESCHEN Witnesses JAMES A. CARR, J. B. MEGOWN.

